Let's be honest, the eighties were not really a good time for bass players because of synthesizers being used on many hit pop records in the place of Bassplayers and most of the time the bass was just pushed in the back, buried under the production standards of the day.
Be that as it may, there also were artists that went the opposite direction and pushed the "Bass back in your face" let's name those players and the songs that were the saving grace for eighties pop music.
Talk Talk has always been a band that stood from the crowd and Mark Hollis in my opinion is a genius. The bassline of this song IS the song. Here we have Bassplayer Paul Webb and Mark Hollis play the bassline in unison on both a grand piano and Webb's bass guitar, the resulting sound is nothing short of devastating.
Nick Beggs also is one of those underrated players, this bassline in particular shows what a monster he was
Many people hate this song because of the horn section Phil Collins brought in, stating that this was the moment that Genesis really jumped the shark. Regardless of that though this must be Micheal Rutherford finest work on bass yet.
One name: Curt Smith. And a very funky bassline.